A time for change.

By Steve Smith

Springtime is here, and with it comes the implementation of the first major changes in this journal since we launched in October 2016. We’ve worked hard during the first six months of producing The Log to establish a place and a precedent for vivid conversations with and among artists, strong and pertinent essays on topics of broad interest, timely news, and constructive criticism. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but now we’re aiming to make this venture a more regular and reliable resource for our readers.

The most evident change we’ve implemented concerns the categories under which we organize our articles. In place of the previous divisions, we’ve adopted four straightforward, clear components:

INSIDE NS covers the doings of National Sawdust specifically, including artists developing new projects, performing, and/or recording at the venue. We’ll check in regularly with curators and resident artists. And when it’s appropriate, we’ll also offer critical perspectives regarding the work that goes on here – with the cooperation of the creators and performers involved.

NOTEWORTHY is a place for in-depth conversations with luminaries and household names: prominent composers, performers, executives, artists and thinkers – the movers, shakers, and visionaries of the creative world.

TRENDING emphasizes interviews, conversations, and essays about current events and developments of broad interest within the arts world: conditions intrinsic to the community, as well as external forces – politics, media, health, and so on – that impact the creative sphere. I’ll be writing some of these essays myself; others will be by artists, arts professionals, academics, and critics. (Pitches are welcome and encouraged.)

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT is, as it ever was, a blog-format outlet for my own posts on topics of interest: timely news announcements about concerts and festivals, books and recordings; concise interviews; brief reports on concerts seen and new music heard; audio and video premieres; reflections on current events; and so on.

A few recurring features will reside under the Night After Night banner. The weekly Playlist will continue to arrive every Monday as it does currently, each new installment including a related Spotify jukebox and as much embedded streaming audio as I can locate. And, starting this week, we’ll be posting a timely record review every Friday, along with shorter mentions of other new releases.

In addition to these changes in organization, we intend to focus more intently on producing articles more regularly and systematically, so that fresh stories arrive on a regular basic and a dependable schedule. We’ll be spacing major articles out now, so that you’ll reliably see one every Tuesday and Thursday, begining tomorrow.

We very much hope that the changes we’re implementing will make The Log a more streamlined, focused, and user-friendly experience for readers. We’re grateful to everyone who has supported our work during our first half-year of existence, and we welcome your feedback as we continue to define and refine our mission of creating a new space for arts journalism and criticism of and about the new-music community.

Thanks for joining us on our journey. And as always, you can contact me with comments, criticism, and ideas via steve@nationalsawdust.org.

Further Reading

Cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, who performs nightly in the Stone series at the New School Feb. 19-23, talks with Olivia Giovetti about improvisation as conversation, and choosing to focus on meaningful work.

For musicians of older generations, to watch Face the Music handle improvisation-based works by black female composers at National Sawdust on Feb. 11 was to attempt to mute one's envy, critic and musician Jennifer Gersten asserts.

PUBLIQuartet cellist Amanda Gookin chats with Amanda Angel about "Freedom and Faith," the group’s second album, which it will showcase on Feb. 10 as part of a season-long residency at National Sawdust.